A Study of Readers’ Power to Reconstruct Characters’ Relationship in <i>Harry Potter’s</i> Fan Fiction <i>Eclipse</i>

Jieling Fang; Humin Liu

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19

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A Study of Readers’ Power to Reconstruct Characters’ Relationship in Harry Potter’s Fan Fiction Eclipse

Jieling Fang, Humin Liu

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 7, Issue 6)

Received: 2 December 2019 Accepted: 16 December 2019 Published: 24 December 2019

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Abstract

In the age of what Henry Jenkins calls “convergence culture” [17] characterized by the development of new media, fan-based products, including fan fiction writing, cannot escape from scholars’ eyes. As one of the best-sellers in the past two decades, Harry Potter series has earned countless devoting fans around the world, and its fan fiction, with its quantity and quality, has expanded its influence outside the fan community. Many attentions have been put on the producers and the consumers, but the fan-authored texts themselves have been constantly unnoticed. This paper is to explore the power of readers in reconstructing characters’ relationship by a close textual analysis on Harry Potter and its fan fiction Eclipse from the aspect of narrative skill. By examining how internal and zero focalization are used in the Harry Potter canon and its fanon, it is clear that readers are able to justify the reconstructed relationship in the process of fan fiction writing. It turns out that fan fiction is not as “meaningless” as people might think; it can serves as a tool for fans to heal and educate themselves, and add more color and vitality to the world of literature by providing various interpretations to the source text.

Published in	International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 7, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19
Page(s)	185-190
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Fan Fiction, Focalization, Reconstructed Relationship

References

[1]	Hellekson, Karen, and Busse, Kristina, eds. Fan Fiction and Fan Community in the Age of the Internet: New Essays. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006: 13.
[2]	Kaplan, Deborah. “Construction of Fan Fiction Character Through Narrative.” In Hellekson and Busse, 2006: 134-152.
[3]	Abbott, H Potter. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2007: 66-102.
[4]	Rimon-Kenan, Shlomith. Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics. London: Routledge, 2002: 72-81.
[5]	Rowlling, J K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. 1997. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2017: 77-322.
[6]	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. 1998. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, Pottermore, 2016.
[7]	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 2007. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, Pottermore, 2016: 149-619.
[8]	Tosenberger, Catherine. “Homosexuality at the Online Hogwarts: Harry Potter Slash Fiction”. Children’s Literature, Volume 36, 2008, pp 185-207. Project MUSE, doi: 10.1353/chl.0.0017.
[9]	Köppe, Tilmann and Stühring, Jan. “Is zero focalization reducible to variable internal and external focalization?”. Textpraxis, 12 (1. 2016)
[10]	Mijan. “Eclipse.” 19 Jan. 2003. Web 10 Oct. 2017. https://www.fan fiction.net/s/1360492/1/Eclipse : ch. 6-13.
[11]	Spartz, Emerson, and Melissa Anelli 16. “Exclusive 2005 Interview.” MuggleNet. 16 July 2005. Web 10 Oct. 2017 .
[12]	Samutina, Natalia. "Fan Fiction as World-Building: Transformative Reception in Crossover Writing: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies Journal of Media & Cultural Studies." Continuum 30.4 (2016): 433-50. ProQuest. Web. 13 Dec. 2019.
[13]	Rowlling, J K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. 2005. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, Pottermore, 2016: 609.
[14]	Ahearn, Victoria. “Rowling Knew Early on Dumbledore Was Gay.” Toronto Star. 23 Oct. 2007. Web 10 Oct. 2017 .
[15]	Bleich, David. “The Subjective Character of Critical Interpretation.” In Twentieth Century Western Critical Theories. Ed Zhu, Gang. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001: 196-199.
[16]	Holland, Norman N. “Reading and Identity: A Psychoanalytic Revolution.” –––. 190-195.
[17]	Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York, New York UP, 2006: 185-205.
[18]	Duggan, Jennifer. "Revising Hegemonic Masculinity: Homosexuality, Masculinity, and Youth-Authored Harry Potter Fanfiction." Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature, vol. 55 no. 2, 2017, p. 38-45. Project MUSE, doi: 10.1353/bkb.2017.0022.

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APA Style

Jieling Fang, Humin Liu. (2019). A Study of Readers’ Power to Reconstruct Characters’ Relationship in Harry Potter’s Fan Fiction Eclipse. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 7(6), 185-190. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19

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Jieling Fang; Humin Liu. A Study of Readers’ Power to Reconstruct Characters’ Relationship in Harry Potter’s Fan Fiction Eclipse. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2019, 7(6), 185-190. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19

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AMA Style

Jieling Fang, Humin Liu. A Study of Readers’ Power to Reconstruct Characters’ Relationship in Harry Potter’s Fan Fiction Eclipse. Int J Lit Arts. 2019;7(6):185-190. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19,
  author = {Jieling Fang and Humin Liu},
  title = {A Study of Readers’ Power to Reconstruct Characters’ Relationship in Harry Potter’s Fan Fiction Eclipse},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {7},
  number = {6},
  pages = {185-190},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20190706.19},
  abstract = {In the age of what Henry Jenkins calls “convergence culture” [17] characterized by the development of new media, fan-based products, including fan fiction writing, cannot escape from scholars’ eyes. As one of the best-sellers in the past two decades, Harry Potter series has earned countless devoting fans around the world, and its fan fiction, with its quantity and quality, has expanded its influence outside the fan community. Many attentions have been put on the producers and the consumers, but the fan-authored texts themselves have been constantly unnoticed. This paper is to explore the power of readers in reconstructing characters’ relationship by a close textual analysis on Harry Potter and its fan fiction Eclipse from the aspect of narrative skill. By examining how internal and zero focalization are used in the Harry Potter canon and its fanon, it is clear that readers are able to justify the reconstructed relationship in the process of fan fiction writing. It turns out that fan fiction is not as “meaningless” as people might think; it can serves as a tool for fans to heal and educate themselves, and add more color and vitality to the world of literature by providing various interpretations to the source text.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Study of Readers’ Power to Reconstruct Characters’ Relationship in Harry Potter’s Fan Fiction Eclipse
AU  - Jieling Fang
AU  - Humin Liu
Y1  - 2019/12/24
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 185
EP  - 190
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19
AB  - In the age of what Henry Jenkins calls “convergence culture” [17] characterized by the development of new media, fan-based products, including fan fiction writing, cannot escape from scholars’ eyes. As one of the best-sellers in the past two decades, Harry Potter series has earned countless devoting fans around the world, and its fan fiction, with its quantity and quality, has expanded its influence outside the fan community. Many attentions have been put on the producers and the consumers, but the fan-authored texts themselves have been constantly unnoticed. This paper is to explore the power of readers in reconstructing characters’ relationship by a close textual analysis on Harry Potter and its fan fiction Eclipse from the aspect of narrative skill. By examining how internal and zero focalization are used in the Harry Potter canon and its fanon, it is clear that readers are able to justify the reconstructed relationship in the process of fan fiction writing. It turns out that fan fiction is not as “meaningless” as people might think; it can serves as a tool for fans to heal and educate themselves, and add more color and vitality to the world of literature by providing various interpretations to the source text.
VL  - 7
IS  - 6
ER  -

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Author Information

Jieling Fang

Faculty of English Language and Culture, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China
Humin Liu

Faculty of English Language and Culture, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Jieling Fang, Humin Liu. (2019). A Study of Readers’ Power to Reconstruct Characters’ Relationship in Harry Potter’s Fan Fiction Eclipse. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 7(6), 185-190. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19

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ACS Style

Jieling Fang; Humin Liu. A Study of Readers’ Power to Reconstruct Characters’ Relationship in Harry Potter’s Fan Fiction Eclipse. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2019, 7(6), 185-190. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19

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AMA Style

Jieling Fang, Humin Liu. A Study of Readers’ Power to Reconstruct Characters’ Relationship in Harry Potter’s Fan Fiction Eclipse. Int J Lit Arts. 2019;7(6):185-190. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19,
  author = {Jieling Fang and Humin Liu},
  title = {A Study of Readers’ Power to Reconstruct Characters’ Relationship in Harry Potter’s Fan Fiction Eclipse},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {7},
  number = {6},
  pages = {185-190},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20190706.19},
  abstract = {In the age of what Henry Jenkins calls “convergence culture” [17] characterized by the development of new media, fan-based products, including fan fiction writing, cannot escape from scholars’ eyes. As one of the best-sellers in the past two decades, Harry Potter series has earned countless devoting fans around the world, and its fan fiction, with its quantity and quality, has expanded its influence outside the fan community. Many attentions have been put on the producers and the consumers, but the fan-authored texts themselves have been constantly unnoticed. This paper is to explore the power of readers in reconstructing characters’ relationship by a close textual analysis on Harry Potter and its fan fiction Eclipse from the aspect of narrative skill. By examining how internal and zero focalization are used in the Harry Potter canon and its fanon, it is clear that readers are able to justify the reconstructed relationship in the process of fan fiction writing. It turns out that fan fiction is not as “meaningless” as people might think; it can serves as a tool for fans to heal and educate themselves, and add more color and vitality to the world of literature by providing various interpretations to the source text.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Study of Readers’ Power to Reconstruct Characters’ Relationship in Harry Potter’s Fan Fiction Eclipse
AU  - Jieling Fang
AU  - Humin Liu
Y1  - 2019/12/24
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 185
EP  - 190
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190706.19
AB  - In the age of what Henry Jenkins calls “convergence culture” [17] characterized by the development of new media, fan-based products, including fan fiction writing, cannot escape from scholars’ eyes. As one of the best-sellers in the past two decades, Harry Potter series has earned countless devoting fans around the world, and its fan fiction, with its quantity and quality, has expanded its influence outside the fan community. Many attentions have been put on the producers and the consumers, but the fan-authored texts themselves have been constantly unnoticed. This paper is to explore the power of readers in reconstructing characters’ relationship by a close textual analysis on Harry Potter and its fan fiction Eclipse from the aspect of narrative skill. By examining how internal and zero focalization are used in the Harry Potter canon and its fanon, it is clear that readers are able to justify the reconstructed relationship in the process of fan fiction writing. It turns out that fan fiction is not as “meaningless” as people might think; it can serves as a tool for fans to heal and educate themselves, and add more color and vitality to the world of literature by providing various interpretations to the source text.
VL  - 7
IS  - 6
ER  -

Copy | Download